Government proposals to install hundreds of wind turbines off the coast of the Illawarra, impacting on everything from the annual whale migration to the price of real estate, have been met with widespread public opposition, no more so than in the Illawarra. 

A tinkerer if you will, from the workshop underneath his house overlooking Lake Illawarra, retired truck driver come carpenter Pat Cummins, 78, has turned his talents to help the cause, creating plaques printed with the words: ‘Save Our Oceans’ and ‘No Offshore Turbines’. 

In the centre of the plaques is a widely used symbol of wind farms, a whale, blue for the ocean, the shape of seagulls and a red line signifying: ‘No’.

The design has been widely circulated on car stickers, pamphlets, t-shirts and online.

As the global warming juggernaut has hit the reality of massively expensive and environmentally destructive wind turbines, community opposition has risen around Australia. 

Like many other locals, Pat is utterly opposed to the industrialisation of the coastline. “I have been a surfer all my life,” he says. “And once they started talking about the wind farms, I did my due diligence. And I found they are not viable, they will not work. And they don’t realise the swells we get here.

“It is the very big end of town pushing it. Vanguard, BlackRock, they own the media. I enjoyed making the windfarm plaques. A mate gave me the sticker, and I copied the design from there.

“The turbines are so high, it’s just going to ruin everything. It is going to affect people and their lifestyles. I am happy to be doing something to help the cause. Anyone who lives near the coast is against it.”

Meanwhile, the political and community opposition to windfarms remains strong, with a group calling itself Responsible Future distributing pamphlets across the south coast.

It claims achievements of the Illawarra community so far include an extension of the consultancy period with the Department of Climate Change and a record 14,200 submissions in the latter months of last year with the collection of 12,079 signatures on petitions opposing the project.

The group is urging concerned citizens to sign a petition to the NSW State Government before the end of this month. The group claims the huge investments in offshore wind projects makes leaders afraid to stop them even knowing they’re a mistake.

A spokesman for Responsible Future, Alex O’Brien, said they were expecting the Illawarra Renewable Energy Zone to be announced shortly by the government.

“We haven’t heard from Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen, nor have we heard from our local Labor representatives,” Alex said. 

“They are indifferent to community response. We want the government to undertake independent environmental impact studies before making the announcement. That stance has been echoed by environmental groups like Sea Shepherd, Bird Life Australia and our commercial fisheries.

“Our focus at the moment is to raise community awareness of the risks of floating offshore wind farms through further distributing pamphlets and flyers, further community sessions and consultation with our tourist and fishing industries. 

“It is clear from the submissions that the Illawarra coastal region is a highly sensitive marine ecosystem and should be approached with extreme caution. 

“There is no precedent in the world for this number of whales passing this number of wind turbines, and the result could be disastrous. There is a high risk of entanglement and sonar confusion.” 

For further information go to: 

Responsible Future: www.responsiblefuture.com.au

To purchase a plaque from Pat Cummins email: [email protected]

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